Metaphors

Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
"...He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold...the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton..."




A Memory of Mother by Aralia Giron
"I grew up watching my mother through the lens of a kaleidoscope and to this very day she continues to be a mosaic of a woman constructed by what little memories I have of her.
When asked about her, she becomes a bucket of sea glass, vibrant colors thrown together just because it looks aesthetically pleasing. It is only momentarily that her sharp edges are forgotten.
I mostly know her through the words of others, through pictures captured by someone else's light of perception, she is a collage of everyone's opinions and I don't think I have a single thought of who she is that truly belongs to me."

What Worked:
Edgar Allen Poe
-Vividly illustrates what a cataract looks like by comparing it to the "eye of a vulture" and describing it as "a pale blue eye, with film over it"
-Compares the rapid beating of a heart to the sound of a watch "enveloped in cotton" which gives the impression that the heartbeat was a muffled rhythm in his ears.

Aralia Giron
-By comparing the memories of my mother to the distorted images reflected through the lens of a kaleidoscope, this hints that I do not know her as intimately as I should
-By describing my mother as a "collage of everyone's opinions", this implies that my perception of her is filtered

What Didn't Work:
Edgar Allen Poe
-The "sound a clock makes when enveloped in cotton" is a bit confusing in meaning. I can only infer that Poe is using this to describe the muffled sound of his fervent heart thudding precariously in his ears.

Aralia Giron
-When I compare my mother to a "bucket of sea glass, a variation of vibrant colors thrown together just because it's aesthetically pleasing" the reader might not know what I mean by this since it is so obscure. The point that I am trying make is that I often slight who she is because I feel like I have to protect the image of what she should be and not who she really is.